Panik, 6-foot-1, 208 pounds, played in 50 games with Tampa Bay last season, recording three goals and 13 points. He also played in 13 games with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League in 2013-14. With the Crunch he accumulated three goals and 11 points. Panik also played in two games during the Lightning’s Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series against the Montreal Canadiens during the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

A native of Martin, Slovakia, Panik has appeared in 75 career NHL games, all with the Lightning, with eight goals and 22 points. He won the AHL’s Calder Cup Championship with the Norfolk Admirals in 2012. Panik represented his native Slovakia at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and skated in four games.

Panik was drafted by Tampa Bay in the second round, 52nd overall, at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

The deadline for NHL clubs to issue offers is today. By issuing qualifying offers to the aforementioned players, the Lightning are given the right of the first refusal or draft choice compensation should the player sign an offer sheet with another NHL club.

Ben Bishop allowed 3 goals on 32 shots before allowing 1 of 7 shooters to convert in the penalty shot session for the SO Loss. It's not a dreadful stat line, however, the Boychuk goal that allowed Boston to tie the game in the Third Period was almost as dreadful as the Erik Johnson GWG Bishop allowed that cost the team the Colorado game. It's a heck of a time for Bishop to look mortal, and you can now legitimately say 2 points were left on the table in Bishop's last 2 starts because of inopportune soft goals.

Ondrej Palat was the game's third star. He got the opportunity to play with Valtteri Filppula tonight after playing with the reunited Palat/Johnson/Panik line against Buffalo. Whether he sticks with Filppula permanently or not, I'm glad to see Palat do well tonight. One of my concerns after seeing St. Louis dealt was whether or not Palat's scoring would fall of the table given how much chemistry those two had. I'm glad to see him get a multi-point game tonight and show that he can keep being productive.

Overall, I guess you can look at this result a couple of different ways. Going in against a team the Lightning aren't built for and getting outshot 32-20, certainly the team should be thrilled to sneak a point out. On the other hand, it's another game where the Lightning had a 2-0 lead, and another game where they had a lead in the Third Period and they didn't get a "W", and it's really hurting their playoff chances badly.

Mike Kostka was +1 with 2 hits and 1 blocked shot in 14:50. He's been a lot like Mark Barberio without the hype. Readers of this site will know that's a double-edged sword.

Richard Panik was -1 with 2 shots and 1 blocked shot in 11:29. He hit a post on his shootout attempt, which is a shame, because a winner would've done boatloads for his confidence. Tonight's game graduated Panik from prospect status on the website.

Anders Lindback allowed 3 goals on 21 shots for the loss. I didn't consider any of the 3 goals weak ones, but again, you want your goaltender to help you keep contact in a close game like that and Lindback doesn't.

Tonight's result was not for a lack of effort, shots, or chances. They outshot Buffalo 44-21, which is amazing considering how low the Lightning's shot totals were on the last roadtrip. They came out with a lot of adrenaline flowing and put a ton of pressure on the Sabres. It led to them getting a little loose defensively and some stupid turnovers like the thing Mark Barberio did on Buffalo's first goal, but for the most part I can't be mad at what I saw. They dominated the faceoff circles. They dominated possession. In his return and wearing the "C" for the first time, Steven Stamkos had at least 3 chances he'd probably have potted were it not for needing to shake off a little rust. In the end, though, Jhonas Enroth stood on his head at a very inopportune time with the Lightning's playoff chances starting to head south.

Mike Kostka had 7 shots, 2 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 18:57. Yes, it's the Sabres, but you have to be encouraged at how well he filled in with Gudas out of the lineup and how active he was offensively.

Richard Panik had 1 hit in 13:12. The stats don't tell the tale. He was a lot stronger and more confident on the puck than he was before his demotion to Syracuse. He's now 1 game away from graduation from prospect status on the website.

Nikita Kucherov was -1 with 2 penalty minutes and 3 shots in 13:52. He failed to convert 2 breakaways and you can see how distraught he was at the bench. He's probably never faced a scoring slump like this in his life. He also is 1 game away from graduation from prospect status on the site.